Fire Safety vs Arcade

JLS2016

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Our arcade runs 9am-10pm daily with the games on. I'm new to things... but I noticed when researching the Star Trek I recently picked up everyone cracks jokes about needing a fire extinguisher nearby. Only... nobody seems to actually be joking :(

Well, I don't know why that is other then I think the G08 monitor but what about other games? My Asteroids Deluxe uses a black and white monitor. Is that in danger of catching fire as well? The games are unattended unless someone is in there playing them so I'm afraid to burn the place down. Any tips or warnings about any other games to worry about or solutions?

Thanks!
 
Fire extinguisher

I keep a C02 extinguisher in my arcade. Probably never need it, but not a bad idea to have one around.

Spend the money on the CO2 instead of the ABC. If you ever have to use it, you will be thankful you spent the extra money. The ABC powder makes a HUGE mess and it is corrosive.
 
Not sure I follow your advise.

Per a site "Carbon dioxide can be used on Class B & C fires. They are usually ineffective on Class A fires"

So a CO2 extinguisher is independent of ABC. And more to the fact, a CO2 doesn't work with type A (paper/wood) fires.
 
Thanks, I'll read thru these....

Is AD known for catching fire like Star Trek? Is there hacks you can do to make them more arcade friendly without swapping to an LCD or things of that nature because I don't wanna do that.

Thanks
 
Asteroids deluxe is only black and white. Those monitors don't suffer from the fire issues like the color g08. Usually it was the older revisions of the g08 but you never know. Definitely keep a fire extinguisher on hand in any arcade.

There are things you can do to help prevent a fire and increase the life of the monitor. Read this article.
http://www.biltronix.com/pdf_files/Simple_Sega_G80_Vector_Mods.pdf
 
I keep a C02 extinguisher in my arcade. Probably never need it, but not a bad idea to have one around.

Spend the money on the CO2 instead of the ABC. If you ever have to use it, you will be thankful you spent the extra money. The ABC powder makes a HUGE mess and it is corrosive.

It's a good bet that if you unloaded a dry chem extinguisher in your arcade ALL your games will be done for in the long run. The dry chem is indeed corrosive and gets everywhere. Think drywall dust. I've never looked to see if they sell a neutralizer that you could wash the boards in but even in that situation you would be spending a LONG time trying to get all the residual dust out of the cabs to keep from re-contaminating.
 
Realistically any arcade game could catch fire.... they all use electricity, they all create heat.

I've heard back and forth on the G08. No doubt some did catch fire in the day. Whether or not the actual game caught fire, or the monitor chassis smoked up a bunch of parts and burned itself out, I don't know.

There is a G08 FAQ, and there are some things the community suggests for these. I have not touched either of my G08s, and they both work great. However, I don't run them for hours and hours and hours per day.

Hopefully others with some more direct experience can comment.
 
I don't know what the right extinguisher is to use and haven't read the links yet but we are a campground with a public laundry across from the arcade. Years ago someone caught our dryers on fire so I used the extinguisher available which was the powder one.... I HATED life more MONTHS after. They are still stained from that crap too I think.

More recently a dryer caught fire. I shut off the propane, ran to our nearby barn, grabbed a shovel, then came back and shoveled dirt on it...lol. Worked like a charm and easy cleanup! Maybe I should hang a shovel in the arcade instead? :)
 
Realistically any arcade game could catch fire.... they all use electricity, they all create heat.

I've heard back and forth on the G08. No doubt some did catch fire in the day. Whether or not the actual game caught fire, or the monitor chassis smoked up a bunch of parts and burned itself out, I don't know.

There is a G08 FAQ, and there are some things the community suggests for these. I have not touched either of my G08s, and they both work great. However, I don't run them for hours and hours and hours per day.

Hopefully others with some more direct experience can comment.

I've been questioning whether the fully caught fire or was just a smoking type thing as well.

That said I have been researching pole Position and buying parts. I've seen multiple pictures of holes burned right through the ar2's! There must of been some form of flame involved.
 
It's a good bet that if you unloaded a dry chem extinguisher in your arcade ALL your games will be done for in the long run. The dry chem is indeed corrosive and gets everywhere. Think drywall dust. I've never looked to see if they sell a neutralizer that you could wash the boards in but even in that situation you would be spending a LONG time trying to get all the residual dust out of the cabs to keep from re-contaminating.

You need a Clean type classed B C. Just don't breathe it. Haylon replacement.
 
G08-001 is the one that would go up. Its doubtful that you still have that in your machine.

Yeah, they caught on fire but it was contained to the monitor itself.
 
In the Trek? Now I'm interested... I'll have to check. It's been sitting in a garage for 20+ years but it was the Asteroids conversion so not sure if that's a different monitor anyways?
 
In the Trek? Now I'm interested... I'll have to check. It's been sitting in a garage for 20+ years but it was the Asteroids conversion so not sure if that's a different monitor anyways?

Asteroids conversion would have come with a 003.
 
Asteroids had mostly G05-801's and some later production units with 19v2000s. Neither one is known for having fire issues like the G08's. I'd say those were more of a special case.

I personally wouldn't put Asteroids at any higher fire risk than any other game. Yes, AR's can have holes burned in them from burned resistors, but those occurred from dirty edge connectors (i.e., poor long-term maintenance) and were generally more specific to Pole Position, though it technically can happen with any other game that uses an AR. However that issue is more likely on higher-current-draw games, which Asteroids/AD are not.

I also believe that those cases didn't typically involve flames, and were more of a slow build over time, heating the board until it chars. If you do fry the resistors all at once, they smoke a lot, and get hot, but go open pretty quick and shut the supply down. When resistors actually catch fire and ignite, they usually leave a residue on the PCB, and most of the AR's I've seen with burn damage have the char, but usually not the smoke residue.

That said, I don't let games run unattended if I'm testing boards in them, post-repair. I have seen diodes short in monitor boards, and make little fireballs, but those cases were from incorrect parts on the board from a previous repair. But it did make me think twice about babysitting boards when testing them for the first time after working on them.

My take on things now is that if you don't see sparks fly in the first couple of hours of running a board, the chances of it happening after that are relatively small. There don't seem to be many cases of 'fire stories' in the history of this hobby or community, else I think it would be a bigger concern.

FWIW, I'd say the consensus should be treat them like any other electrical device, and use general fire safety measures, as you would in any home or business.
 
I have a large dry chemical ABC fire extinguisher in the arcade, though yeah... I REALLY hope to never need to use it. I keep thinking of getting a CO2 extinguisher, but unsure that the BC rating only would be sufficient for the arcade.

One thing that you might look into is the First Alert Tundra: https://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-AF400-Extinguisher-Aerosol/dp/B001229JCU ... supposedly they work well, and clean up easily. I keep one of them next to my CO2 laser cutter in case something catches fire while cutting (the water squirt bottle is the first defense, then the Tundra, then the dry chemical). I might put one next to the dry chemical extinguisher in the arcade as a "use this first" measure. But, the amount of stuff ruined by the dry chemical extinguisher would certainly be better than the house burning down and everything being ruined (by the fire or the water from the fire truck).

Regarding the G08... yeah, I've had one flare up, but quickly blew the fuse and it went out. If there had been some paper labels or something close by, maybe it could have started a fire (luckily I was working on it, so it was on a concrete floor with nothing nearby).

DogP
 
Anyone ever use a C02 unit on an arcade game ?

I'd worry about thermal shock (i.e. monitor picture tube).

Though I'd rather put i tout with a C02 unit than let it burn :)
 
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